Inspired by that time singer, dancer, actress and black cultural icon Josephine Baker was sailing across the Atlantic on the SS Normandie to take part in the Ziegfeld Follies Broadway musical revue. She heard her equally famous friend, Billie Burke, was on the ship as well, who was not only Ziegfeld’s widow but also a popular actress - you'd probably know her as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Josephine invited her to dinner and Billie was said to have agreed.
Josephine entered the first-class dining room in a gown by Erté, causing the room to burst into a standing ovation. Billie arrived shortly after, her entrance gaining an even warmer reception than that of Josephine's. But when she approached Josephine's table, Billie gave her nothing more than a look of distaste and coldly passed her by. But Josephine appeared unbothered and finished her dinner alone. Afterwards, she climbed the grand staircase and caused the audience to once again erupt into another standing ovation as she flashed them a dazzling smile, allegedly saying, “I assume she belongs to the black-hating race.”
Today's Black History Month illustration is of Josephine Baker. She was a world famous entertainer, WWII spy, and activist.
Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. Her parents were both vaudeville performers, but Baker would have to take on odd jobs to help support her family.
At the age of 15, she ran off and joined a dance troupe from Philadelphia. She also got married, took her husband’s last name, dropped her first name and started going by the name Josephine Baker. After acting and dancing in musicals, she moved to New York City and was soon performing at the Plantation Club where she became a crowd favorite.
In 1925, Baker went to Paris to dance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in La Revue Nègre. When the Revue closed, she was given her own show and her career skyrocketed.
She was the first Black woman to star in a motion picture and one of the first Black entertainers to achieve acclaim on screen and stage.
Baker became a citizen of France in 1937. When the Germans occupied France during WWII, she worked with the Red Cross and the French Resistance by transporting confidential information by writing with invisible ink on her sheet music. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor with the rosette of the Résistance.
Baker traveled many times to the US to participate in the civil rights movement. She was the only woman who spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1968.
Her time at home forced her to confront segregation and discrimination that she didn’t experience overseas. She often refused to perform for segregated audiences and club owners were forced to integrate for her shows.
She continued to perform until her death in 1975, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of her Paris debut.
I’ll be back on Monday with the last illustration and story!
Josephine Baker receives a congratulatory kiss on the nose from her husband, orchestra leader Jo Bouillon, after her show at the Strand Theater during her 1951 U.S. tour.
Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt via Life magazine Instagram